Uchimaki
by Aiko Kohanako
Summary: Part three from Death of a Dobe. Warnings: yaoi, slash, smut, lemon, mpreg is there any other way I can say it
1. Baby Shower

**Hey guys... It's been a long time, but I'm going back to fix these chapters before I continue on because the further they get, the less I like them. In this one and the next, there are only a few changes that don't really change the story, so it's up to you whether or not you re-read them to find out what's differen't.

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Naruto hummed, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, as he waited for someone to answer the door. Sasuke stood slightly behind him, looking off into the distance as his hands rested nonchalantly in his pockets.

Finally, the door opened, and the two were met by Shino's tired face, his sunglasses missing.

"Hey Shino." Naruto beamed as he invited himself in.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and silently followed the blonde. He nodded to the now Hyuuga as he passed by, and smirked. "You look like shit."

Shino shut the door. "What do you want?" He demanded irritably, ignoring the Uchiha.

Naruto jumped slightly, seeming to almost lose his nerve. "We thought that maybe you guys could use a break. I mean, a baby takes a lot of work, and with two, that's like, double." He smiled again.

"And you think you can take care of them?" Kiba asked as he entered the room.

"I'm great with kids." Naruto insisted. "Besides, it'd only be for a little while, so you guys can have a break, and Sasuke'll be there." He looked nervous again.

Shino perked up. "We could actually sleep."

"I don't know." Kiba pressed.

"WE COULD ACTUALLY SLEEP!" Shino grabbed Kiba by the shoulders, and shook him. "KIBA, WE COULD ACTUALLY SLEEP!"

"But-" Kiba tried again.

"Sasuke-kun will be there too." Hinata reasoned as she came in carrying two babies and a large bag. "And besides, they are the boys' godparents." She handed one child to Naruto, and the other to Sasuke. She also gave the bag to the Uchiha. "There's extra diapers; try to only change them in rooms that are really warm, otherwise they will pee again as you change them. For the bottles that are in there, use for scoops of formula, and make sure it is lukewarm before you give it to them. They will sleep often, but never at the same time and never for more than five minutes before they want something else." She paused to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and brightened when she couldn't think of anything. "Okay, buh-bye." Hinata seemed incredibly perky and full of energy, unlike how she looked.

Kiba held Hinata back, stopping her from ushering the men out of the house. "Are you sure? I mean, this is _Naruto _we're talking about."

"I haven't slept for the last three weeks, and if I don't get some sleep soon, I'll go crazy." The woman snapped. "So unless you want to see me get mean, chop off the part of you that got us into this mess and feed it to Akamaru, you'll let them go."

Kiba backed off quickly. "Okay, see ya." He waved Naruto and Sasuke off, uneasily pulling the hem of his pants up.

Sasuke snickered as they left, and handed Shino a piece of paper that reminded them when to come and pick the kids up.

Once they were out of the house, and on their way home, Naruto let out a victorious yell. "That was too easy, right Sasuke?"

The pale man jumped slightly, regaining his composure. "R-right." He had been playing with the child in his arms, wiggling a finger in the boy's face while making faces and soft coos. The baby giggled.

"Aww, look at the mighty Uchiha." The blonde teased. "Playing with a wittle baby."

Sasuke scoffed. "So I like kids; my fan club would turn to putty over it."

"Well, we'll just see how long you last." Naruto stuck up his nose and continued on.

**-Uchimaki-**

Naruto pushed the door to the Uchiha manor open, and was greeted by the smell of baking sweets and bread, and a wave of busy energy.

Nearly instantly, Sakura swooped down on them. "It's about time you get back. Here we are, going crazy to get everything ready, and you two decide to take your sweet time picking up the kids; we should have just sent _Sai_."

They heard a large sigh, and looked to see Shikamaru half-heatedly stirring batter of some kind. "Like they would be desperate enough to hand Hikaru and Hiraku over to him, and how do you think we would explain them coming here to pick them up?" Instantly, Shikamaru regretted what he had said as Sakura rushed over to give him some sort of lecture, forgetting Sasuke and Naruto for the moment. Apparently, the lazy Nara had miscalculated the pink-haired woman.

When they had gone to get the Hyuuga children, Naruto and Sasuke had left their friends to cook and decorate the Uchiha house for the surprise party they were throwing for Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. Sure they had had a baby shower, but that was before anyone had known that they would have twins, and it no longer seemed fair that only one of the babies would have had a party, or at least that was their excuse.

Sakura had been put in charge of making sure everything got done, and everyone did what they were supposed to do: a job no one questioned her on. Tenten, Temari, and Gaara were put in charge of cooking, while Kankouru, Lee, Chouji, and Neji were told to decorate. Shikamaru and Sai had both been causing too many problems in their own ways for both tasks, and so were set to do any miscellaneous tasks that anyone could find which would keep them busy.

Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to have the same fate, as well as watching the children, but now that they had the kids, there was no way that they would do anything else. No matter what anyone asked them to do, both men would get busy, doing something for one of the boys, or merely forgetting what they had been asked while playing them.

Sakura soon gave up on them. "Fine, just play with the twins, but that better mean that you don't need any help." And she stormed off to dictate someone else's actions.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a quick, sly, smile before turning back to the boys.

**-Uchimaki-**

Twelve and a half diaper changes later each, everything was finally ready, and the only ones missing were the Hyuugas.

Finally, the others came to rest in the main room, and Naruto and Sasuke were able to pass the boys off and take a break of their own. Sure, the kids were cute and fun, and their laughter could almost be seen as magical, but they were a lot of work.

It was unknown, exactly, which one of the Hyuuga men the father was, and no one was able to tell from the looks of the kids.

The boys were identical, and had the same soft face as their mother, along with the Hyuuga eyes. Already, tuffs of straight brown hair lined the tops of the twin's heads. It almost seemed as if they had taken on all of the Hyuuga characteristics, and none of their father's, knowing which clan they belonged to.

Sakura laid her head lovingly on Sai's shoulder as he played with the child lying on his lap.

The other boy was in Neji's arms, and it was he who seemed to notice the time. "They're late."

"You're right." Sakura lifted her head. "It's not like Hinata, or Shino, to be late."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Temari turned to her husband.

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome; they're probably still just asleep."

"That's right." Sakura perked up. "New parents tend to loose a lot of sleep, and with having twins, until they fall into a pattern, the three of them will most likely suffer from extreme fatigue. There is a high probability that their bodies are not allowing them to awake so that they can catch up on lost sleep."

"Does that mean that we should let them sleep?" Gaara asked.

"No." Sakura completely launched into medic-nin mode. "If they sleep longer than they actually need to, when they wake up, they will be more tired than if they were woken up when their bodies have fully rested. It's better to only sleep as much as you need to, and no more, otherwise your body will try and compensate."

"So we should wake them up?" A slightly evil smirk found its way across Sai's face. "Can I go do it?"

Sakura smacked her husband upside the head. She then turned sweetly to Neji. "Perhaps you should go get them."

"Hai." The present Hyuuga nodded, handed the child to his wife, and left.

**-Uchimaki-**

Neji crept silently up to his cousin's bedroom window and peered in. Sakura and Shikamaru had been right; they were sleeping.

Shino was sprawled out on one side of the bed, while Hinata lay diagonally, head resting on the man's chest. Kiba was laying on the opposite side of the bed, at the end, curled into a tight ball, his head resting on Hinata's calves.

Neji smiled to himself; they were almost too cute to wake up… Almost.

Opening the window slowly, the long haired Hyuuga snuck into the room. His smirk grew as he pulled out a small jar with holes poked into the lid. Opening it, he turned the jar upside down over Kiba, letting its contents fall onto the man. Quickly, he made his way out of the room, but stayed close enough to watch.

First, Kiba's nose began twitching. Suddenly, the man jerked awake and began scratching profusely. Instantly, that forced Shino awake, who jumped up and lunged at the dog-man. Hinata was thrown aside and awake.

It took her a few moments to get her bearings, but as soon as she did, Hinata jumped in to calm the men down.

"If you don't stop scratching, you'll kill them." Shino pressed.

"If you'd keep these fleas off of me, I wouldn't have to scratch." Kiba growled.

"I don't keep fleas." Shino shot back. "They had to have come from your mutt."

Akamaru barked from one corner of the room. The dog wasn't stupid enough to jump in against the bug master, but he also wasn't going to just sit quietly as all of this went on.

"If they aren't yours, then why do you care?" Kiba barked.

"Kiba-kun! Shino-kun!" Hinata tried to calm her husbands down. "Please."

Neji chuckled to himself as he made his way back to the Uchiha compound, knowing that the Threesome would soon follow. Now he was grateful he had spent that week collecting fleas, hopeful that he would be able to use them against his cousin and her family in some way.

**-Uchimaki-**

"Gomen." Hinata blurted out as the door was opened. "We're late."

Sasuke stepped back to allow the Hyuugas in, and everyone yelled a greeting of surprise as they entered.

"What's going on?" Kiba asked, looking around, bewildered.

"When we threw you guys a baby shower, it was only for one." Naruto explained brightly as he made his way towards the couple. "So, we thought we'd throw you another, to make it even."

Shino let a small chuckle escape. "So you used Hiraku and Hikaru as bait to get us here."

"It was Shikamaru's idea." Chouji announced proudly. "He said that it would be the only way to make it impossible for you to make an excuse not to come."

"And we got a full day's rest, too." Hinata said dreamily as she walked over and picked up her sons. "And the boys seem tired enough to actually sleep tonight… We should have you baby-sit more often."

"Anytime." Sasuke spoke up quickly, wiggling a finger in one of the children's faces, causing him to giggle and try to catch it.

All of the girls cooed.

Temari smacked Shikamaru upside the head. "Why can't you be more like that?"

"Geeze." The lazy shinobi groaned. "This is why women are so troublesome."

His reward was another smack, and everyone else laughed.

**-Uchimaki-**

The rest of the night was spent eating and socializing. Half-way through the night, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino opened gifts, and then the party continued. At about midnight, people began to trickle their way out, but the full group wasn't gone until after two.

Naruto and Sasuke plopped onto the couch, too tired to make it to their room. Naruto's head fell to his lover's chest, while the later placed his head on top of the other's.

"That was tiring." Naruto sighed. "I can't believe how much work those two take. I mean, it was fun and all, but I can't imagine having to do that all the time."

"It's just because they're too young to do anything for themselves." Sasuke explained. "It's when they get older that you get to have fun with them. You'll see; when the boys are old enough, we'll train them, and take them to the park, and do all sorts of things with them."

"And I'll teach them how ramen is the greatest food ever." Naruto said dreamily. "They were still cute." The blonde smiled.

"Yeah." Sasuke mused.

'_I want one.' _Both men thought silently to themselves, but remained silent.

Sasuke tightened his hold on his dobe, both of the drifting off to a dreamless sleep.


	2. What About the Clan

**Now I feel really bad!!!**

**I have it set up to send me e-mails to tell me I got reviews, and every now and again it desides to wait a few days before I get them, then I end up getting a lot, and that's what happened. I just got all the reviews for the last chapter (or next, depending on how you look at it), and it makes me feel bad that I'm just now updating.**

**Then, add to the fact that I leave this chapter out, because I'm still working on it, and I make it seem like that means it'll turn out to be worth the wait, and I don't think it is!!! I still can't bring myself to write the whole thing out, so I cheated and used a SMALL time jump.**

**PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!!**

**LOL, Anyways, to make up for it, I'll either have the fourth chapter up later today, or tomorrow at the latest... I PROMISE. If I don't, you can... Well, I don't know what you can do.

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****2. What About the Clan**

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked in a small voice. He had just woken up.

Both men were still lying on the couch, Naruto latched onto Sasuke's leg, arms wrapped around the pale man's neck. Sasuke still had his head resting on top of the blondes, while his own arms almost crushed his lover into his chest.

The Uchiha pulled the boy in his lap closer for a moment, then let him fall slightly back. "Hm?"

"It was fun, taking care of Hikaru and Hiraku today, wasn't it?" Naruto asked timidly.

"Nh." Sasuke made a noise in the affirmative.

"Do you…" The blonde began, but dropped off.

Slowly, Sasuke was shaking the sleep off. "Do I what?"

Naruto remained silent for a few minutes. "What do you plan to do, now that you're back?"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. When the blonde looked away, Sasuke's face softened in understanding and a slight smile graced his features. "I'm obsessive; when I want something, it's the only thing I focus on. I'm also possessive; once I get what I want, I won't let it go."

His grip tightened around his lover once more. "When we were younger, I was so focused on revenge that I couldn't see what I really wanted until I got my revenge. Now that I have what I really wanted all along, I'm not going to let you go."

Sasuke bent down and claimed Naruto's lips, forcibly. Naruto leaned in to the kiss as Sasuke shifted their position so that the blonde laid on the couch with the Uchiha on him.

"Sasuke, wait." Naruto pleaded as he pushed the bigger man off him slightly. "I'm trying to be serious here."

"Me too." Sasuke grabbed both of Naruto's wrists, forcing his hands above his head, as he dove back down to reclaim the blonde's lips.

Naruto fought for a few moments, but quickly his body went lax as Sasuke's hand snaked up his shirt.

The Uchiha pulled away long enough to remove Naruto's shirt, and his own. The blonde took this chance to break in. Rolling underneath Sasuke, he managed to slide off the couch.

"Teme, if you don't-" Naruto gasped as Sasuke suddenly had him pinned to the wall.

"Remember what happened last time you tried to leave me unsatisfied?" Sasuke cooed as he slid one leg between the slightly smaller boy's legs.

Naruto gasped as he thought back to the night that Sasuke had caught him. Simultaneously, he could feel his pants tighten, yet he tried to ignore it. "Dammit! I-"

Sasuke leaned in closer, pushing his weight on Naruto's erection. He smiled as the blonde's face twisted for a moment, before he was able to regain his senses.

The blonde gasped again as he felt a hand plunged beneath the hem of his pants. He moaned as the hand found his member and began massaging it.

"Are we ready to cooperate now?" Sasuke asked as he pulled away.

Naruto mewed as the Uchiha began to walk away. Unable to form a reasonable thought, Naruto followed Sasuke to the bedroom.

**-Uchimaki-**

Naruto rocked his hips in rhythm against Sasuke's, moaning loudly as the pale man took hold of his erection and began pumping in time. His nails dug into the man on top of him as his vision went white and he spilt himself over both of their stomachs. A few strokes later and Sasuke followed.

The Uchiha let out a contented sigh as he fell beside his lover. Wrapping an arm over his waist, Sasuke pulled Naruto against his chest.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Hm?"

"Is this-" He paused. "Is this what you really want?"

The pale man buried his face in Naruto's shoulder, remaining silent for a minute. Finally, he sighed. "If I'm the last, then so be it; I'm not going to lose you again."

Naruto turned around, trying to pull Sasuke even closer. "Good, because I won't let you go, Teme."

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**Okay, so there it is... Go ahead and tell me how horrible it is... I can take it!!! Gomen.**

**Seriously, baby steps... I'm working up to be able to write you a great chapter filled with what I love to read, so... baby steps.**

**If anyone knows any good guides for me, point me in the direction, otherwise, just smack me and tell me to get with the program.**


	3. The Little Girl

**If some of you have glanced down, you see that the story says that this is Chapter 3... But Wait!!! This is only the second chapter... Well, my friends, you are too smart for me.**

**No, actually, the truth is that I really want to put a chapter in between this chapter and the last one, but I just can't bring myself to completely write it, and I don't want to leave you guys hanging just because I'm having writers block on one chapter.**

**If you want to know, the chapter between is just suppose to be one where Sasuke and Naruto talk about the future, and the whole 'men can't have babies' deal... Little do they know what I have planned for them... Anyways, they main thing that I'm having trouble with is the fact that it either ends in, or in the middle of has, smut, and I'm not confident enough in what I'm writing, and I still turn pink as I write it... Time to watch more Level C and Sensitive Pornography...**

**So, Gomen. You may have noticed that I've started another story, and like I said on the update there today, I'll be working on each story in proportion to how many review I get... There's somehting to think about.**

**Enjoy.

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3. The Little Girl

Naruto sighed loudly, sitting behind the Hokage's desk; his desk. He smiled victoriously at that fact, yet sighed again when he remembered how much work he had to do.

As soon as Naruto took the role of Hokage, Tsunade bolted out of the village, pausing only long enough to laugh at her successor.

"Have fun with the paper work." She called out, rushing through the gates.

Tsunade wasn't kidding. It seemed to Naruto that all he did was paper work, or assign missions, or read reports. He would have died from all the reading if it wasn't for his shadow clones; they were the only way he was able to keep up with everything.

He was just about to get back to signing documents when Konohamaru burst through the door.

"Nii-san!" He wheezed. "There's a problem at the gate!"

Naruto smiled, excitedly, before rushing off to the gate.

When he got there, Naruto found a small girl, surrounded by five shinobi, one of which was Kakashi, using the Sharingan.

"All this for a little girl?" The blonde asked, coming to a stop next to his former sensei.

"She wouldn't talk to the guards, and when they tried to stop her, she attacked them." Kakashi was visibly worn.

"She's using two different kinds of chakra that are almost identical." Neji informed them as he landed nearby.

The little girl froze when her eyes locked with Naruto's. She had long silver hair with eyes that almost matched, just barely tinged blue, with fear resonating throughout.

Naruto caught the terror in the girl's face, and his own face softened. "Who are you?" He almost whispered. "Why are you here?" He knelt down.

The little girl broke into tears, and ran towards Naruto, burying her face in his chest, sobbing.

Naruto wrapped his arms around the girl. "It's alright." Naruto cooed. "You're safe here; we want to help."

"Gomen." She pleaded in a cute little voice. "Gomen, gomen, gomen."

"There, there." Naruto rubbed the back of her head.

The girl pulled back slightly, and held out her hand towards the men she had been fighting. Her hand began to glow white, as did the men. Almost instantly, all were healed, and the girl had buried her head back in Naruto's chest.

**-Uchimaki-**

"Now, are you ready to talk?" Naruto asked between gulps of ramen. He had decided to take the little girl to Ichiraku's and feed her in an attempt to make her more comfortable.

The little girl nodded. "I'm Yumi." She said brightly. "I was just trying to look around, and those two scary men scared me, and then I blacked out."

"Blacked out?"

"Yeah." The girl continued. "Sometimes, when I get scared real bad, I black out, but when I wake up again, everything's all better, and whatever scared me is all gone."

Naruto frowned. "And you're not afraid of me?"

Yumi thought for a moment, looking like she was really concentrating and going over all the facts in her head. "No." She finally decided. "'Cause you're like me."

"Like you?" The blonde asked.

Yumi nodded. "Part demon."

Naruto froze mid-slurp, suddenly choking on his noodles. "How did you know I'm a Jinchuuriki?"

"'Cause, Kaa-san was a demon, and when I was born, she sealed herself in me." The girl said happily, swinging her legs beneath her.

Naruto thought hard for a moment. "Where's your father?"

Yumi's eyes went blank for a moment, then brightened as she smiled again. "He died before I was born." She took another slurp of noodles. "He was strong, but he was also good-for-nothing."

"So you're alone." Naruto's eyes fell towards the ground, but shot back up when he heard how bright and happy Yumi's voice sounded.

"Yep. I've always been alone, and that's how it was meant to be. If you're a demon, you can't be strong if you always have someone there to do everything for you. You become strong by doing things on your own. I was already at a disadvantage because Otousan was a human, so it was almost impossible for me to survive in the demon world. That's why Kaa-san sealed herself in me; now I have the power of one and a half demons."

The Hokage's voice remained sad. "What if you stay here?"

The girl thought again. "Humanity's extremely strong; if you have the least bit of it, you're likely to act on it. That's what Kaa-san says, anyways. I guess what it means is that you need a lot of demon to be a demon, but only a little humanity to be human." Suddenly the girl got sad. "No one's ever kept me long enough to see."

Naruto sighed; now he was glad that Sasuke was gone on a week long mission. The Hokage knew that he couldn't leave the little girl to continue wondering on her own, yet he also knew how the village would react to her. They would demand that the blonde do something about her; after all, another demon could not be good for the village.

No, Naruto knew he had to make a decision before anyone found out, and he would have to set his decision in stone.

Immediately, Naruto made up his mind. "You'll stay with me." He concluded.

Yumi blinked. "What?"

"You can't just keep wondering about." Naruto urged. "And like you said, we're the same. So, you'll stay with me."

The girl's eyes grew big. "Really?" She gleamed.

**-Uchimaki-**

Three days later, Naruto and Yumi had bonded instantly. The little girl followed the blonde everywhere, even to work, and the two of them ate ramen together for two out of three meals a day. The third meal consisted of fruit, which Iruka all but forced down the blonde's throat.

So far, no one had said anything about the little girl or her background, so, so far, they were safe.

**-Uchimaki-**

It shouldn't have been a surprise when Sasuke and his team finished their mission early, but it still wasn't a surprise when the Rokudamie wasn't in his office.

The Uchiha dismissed his team, telling them he would give their report to the Hokage himself, then headed home.

The raven haired man opened his door, and tiredly entered his house. He paused only long enough to register Naruto, coloring in the living room, with a little girl. The Uchiha brushed it off and moved to the bedroom

Sasuke found a change of clothes and made his way to the bathroom. Stripping down and turning the shower on, the man climbed into the tub.

Rubbing shampoo into his hair, Sasuke froze, seeming to realize something. Instantly, he jumped out from under the water, grabbed a towel, and rushed into the room where Naruto was still sitting with the girl

"Umm… I don't think you're done yet, Teme." Naruto said dryly.

"Dobe." The Uchiha frowned.

"What's going on?"

"We're coloring." The blonde rolled his eyes, stating the obvious.

"I see that." Sasuke snapped. "I mean, who is she, and what is she doing here?"

The blonde nodded at the little girl who got up and moved to stand in front of Sasuke. She leaned on one leg, slightly bending the other, and folded her hands, cutely, before her. Looking up with big, tear-filled eyes, the girl took a deep breath.

"Plea, Sasuke-sama, I'm all alone, and, and, and…" The girl seemed unable to continue, bursting into tears.

The Uchiha dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around the girl. "There, there, it's alright." He picked her up, and walked over to sit on the couch.

"Can we keep her?" Naruto asked, turning his puppy-dog eyes on his lover, while Yumi did the same.

"Y9ou make it sound like she's a pet." Sasuke took a deep breath, then sighed. "Nh." He set the girl down and headed back to finish his shower.

"What's that mean?" Yumi asked, confused.

Naruto smiled. "That's just his way to say yes."

Yumi jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "Then I did good?"

"You did the best." Naruto laughed as he pulled the girl down into a hug.

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**Holy Cow, could that intro have been any longer??? Well, just review if you want an update faster than it would normal come.**

**Uke-kun: I want the previous chapter!!!**

**Naru-chan: Pervert.**

**Aiko: Yep, and I support it 100 After all, Sai, Kakashi, and Jiriya are all perverted, and are all the best.**


	4. Threat

**Haha!!! I know what you were thinking... "This is going to be like all the other times she told us she'd update within the next day, and didn't." Well, Guess what... You're wrong!!! I did it, just like I said I would!!!**

**Okay, now that I've expressed how proud I am of that...**

**I'm glad you all like (or see to like) Yumi. I want to get her issues resolved so that I can get to the m-preg (I still promise that it will come). In this chapter, and in the future, Sasuke will ALWAYS be OOC with Yumi, and all of his kid(s) because I think he's the kind of guy that would be wrapped around children's fingers.**

**Well, enjoy.

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4. Threat

Yumi smiled, swinging on the swings. Instead of going with Naruto to work, the little girl was left with Sasuke.

The Uchiha had decided that they would go to the park, causing great excitement in the little girl. She had headed straight to the swings while Sasuke went to lean against a nearby wall, musing to himself.

A chubby, older kid sauntered up to the swings. "You havin' fun?" He asked sweetly, giving a toothy grin.

"Yep." Yumi replied, mimicking his smile.

Suddenly, the boy reached out and grabbed hold of one of the chains holding the swing. Yumi went flying off the swing, landing face down.

The boy began to laugh hysterically. "Now havin' fun now, are ya?"

Getting up angrily, Yumi stormed over to the boy. When she reached him, the little girl shoved her fist into the boy's stomach, as far up as she could reach, sending him flying onto the swing. When the swing swung back towards her, Yumi hit the boy again, much harder, sending the swing all the way over the top bar that held the swing up.

Brushing off her hands, Yumi turned around to walk away, but fell in surprise when she found Sasuke standing behind her.

"Sasuke-sama!" The girl gasped.

The Uchiha leaned down and picked the girl up, smiling softly at her. "Are you alright?"

Yumi nodded. "That boy, he-"

"It's okay." Sasuke interrupted the girl. "I saw." He smiled again. "It's a good thing you took care of him, otherwise I would have done worse."

Yumi smiled, then made a face. "Why are boys so stupid?"

Sasuke laughed. "We're not all bad."

"Well, you don't count." The girl put her hands on her hips. "Neither does Naru-sama, or 'Ruka-sensei. I'm still considering 'Kashi-sensei, but he's almost too weird to make a decision on."

"I heard that." Kakashi called out as he and Iruka approached the two. "Yo." He held up his hand in greeting.

"'Ruka-sensei!" Yumi outstretched her arms towards the brown haired shinobi.

The man took the little girl from Sasuke. "You didn't go with Naruto today?"

Yumi shook her head. "Naru-sama has important work he has to get done, and now that Sasuke-sama is here, I don't _have _to go with him, and 'sides, I already got to spend lots of time with Naru-sama, but not a lot with Sasuke-sama." She smiled proudly. "And this way, I got to come to the park."

"Well, then maybe you should get back to playing." Iruka smiled, carrying the girl off to play, sparing a single glance towards the other two men.

Sasuke looked to his former sensei. "What was that about?"

Kakashi sighed. "You need to go calm Naruto down. A few shinobi from the Lightning country have come to get Yumi. They say that she's from their country, and their Kage wants her back."

"What?" The pale man demanded.

"It gets worse." Kakashi replied lazily. "It seems that they plan to kill her as soon as they get her back to the Lightning country."

Sasuke's eyes stained red. "She's just a child."

"But she's strong." The silver haired ninja thought back to his own battle with the girl. "And a threat. Wherever she gets her power from, it's an incredible source, and if that power is upset, or placed in the wrong hands, it could destroy everything." He sighed. "As Hokage, Naruto has no choice but to hand her over; if he doesn't, a war will break out, and the village will be put at risk."

"Dammit." Sasuke cursed under his breath.

"Naruto is considering letting the war happen." Kakashi added as an afterthought.

"Baka!" The Uchiha rushed in the direction of the Hokage tower, leaving Yumi in the care of Iruka and Kakashi.

"Where's Sasuke-sama going?" Yumi asked as she watched the man leave.

"He has to go see Naruto." Iruka answered, then tried to pull the girl's attention back to the playground.

* * *

**I don't know when then next update will be, and I won't make a promise because I don't know if I'd keep it like I did this one... Oh well, tell me what you thought, and inspire me with you're reviews.**


	5. Betrayl

**Hi guys... It's been a LONG time, hasn't it??? Gomen 1,000,000,000,000,000. I'm back in school, and I have a nice gap in my schedule that I can write in, and I've gotten interrested in continuing, since so many people have been reviewing, so I think you'll get more chapters quickly.**

**Just to let you all know, this story will be much longer than the other two, and will have a few archs in it, rather than just one like the others.**

**Ooo, before I forget... Just to remind all of you, since it's been such a long time, Sasuke is Midnight Serpent (and Sai is Black Lion, and Naruto was Full Moon Fox). That's kind of important that you remember that for this chapter.

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5. Betrayl?**

"Dobe! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sasuke seethed as he threw the door to the Hokage's office open.

Naruto and Sakura both looked up, and quickly the pink-haired ninja excused herself.

"I won't let them take her." The blonde said calmly.

Sasuke growled. "But you can't let a war break out because of some girl."

"She's not just some girl." Instantly, Naruto's voice hit the roof. "She's just a child, and they want to kill her just because she's half-demon. They're scared of her power, so they want to just off her like it makes no difference either way. They don't care that she's just a kid, or that she can choose what path she'll take."

The Hokage passed, and his voice lowered. "She's a Jinchuuriki, like me; do you really think I could just hand her over? What other choice to I have?"

Sasuke's expression softened, and he moved closer, to wrap his arms around the blonde. "You're Hokage now; you can't just make these decisions based on your biases. You have to think about what's best for the village."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he shoved Sasuke away. "You want me to sacrifice an innocent child just because someone threatens us if we don't? How many people should I allow to be killed before I take a stand and say that it's enough?"

"She isn't some innocent kid." The Uchiha shot back. "She's a demon."

"So because of something that she can't control, that automatically makes her evil?" Naruto slammed his fists on his desk. "And here I thought you knew better." He got up and moved to the door.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke called after the blonde.

"You left her at the park, right?" Naruto paused only long enough to answer, before sprinting off to find Yumi.

**-Uchimaki-**

Yumi squealed as Iruaka swung her around in circles and let her go flying. She squealed again when Kakashi caught her, and brought her safely to the ground. After resting for a moment to allow her vision to return to normal, Yumi caught sight of Naruto rushing towards them.

"Naru-sama!" The girl clapped her hands in excitement. "Did you come to play with us?"

Naruto swooped down and picked Yumi up. "No, you're coming with me."

"Why?" She looked around. "Where's Sasuke-sama? 'Ruka-sensei said he went to go talk to you."

"That bastard…" The Hokage mumbled to himself.

Concern fell on Iruka's face. "What happened?"

Naruto began to get worked up again. "Apparently, Sasuke thinks I should just hand over-" He was interrupted by Kakashi.

"Maybe now isn't the best time." He looked pointedly at Yumi.

The little girl got defensive. "I may be a kid, but I'm a big kid; I wanna know what's going on, too. I have as much right as anyone else to-" Suddenly, she froze, and her eyes blanked over. "Children are so easy to over-shadow."

"Yumi?" Naruto asked blankly.

"Not quite, Pup." The girl answered. "I'm Aoiai; a siren demon, and Yumi's mother. She can't hear us anymore, so you're free to talk without getting her involved." Aoiai wiggled free, so that she was standing on her own. "Well?"

Naruto looked blankly at her for a moment, before remembering his anger. "That bastard thinks I should just hand Yumi over to the Lightning Country, just because they say they'll start a war, even though they said they're gonna kill her. I mean, she's just a child."

"So, she's a Jinchuuriki?" Kakashi ruffled his hair. "That explains her power."

"And they want to kill her for that, even though she can't help it!" Naruto went on venting. "Like she has any control over what she is? And, she can always learn how to control her power, like I did. She, at least, already knows what she is; it'd be easier for her."

"Naruto." Iruka breathed.

"So?" Aoiai snapped. "Hand her over; you'll avoid a war, and Yumi will just become stronger."

"But they want to kill her." Naruto said in shock.

"So?" She laughed. "I'll just kill them before they get a chance. Her body may be small, but I retain all of my power within her."

Naruto looked away. "But, then Yumi will be alone."

Aoiai laughed again. "You are far too sentimental, Pup. Do you have demon in you, or what?"

The blonde picked her up again. "Give Yumi back control of her body; we're leaving."

Aoiai obeyed, and Naruto stormed off.

**-Uchimaki-**

Naruto sighed as he fell into bed with Yumi. They had gone to his old apartment, which he had kept throughout everything. Now that the little girl was asleep and he could take a break, Naruto fell into an instant deep sleep.

He was so tired that Naruto didn't even notice when another presence into the room, and pulled Yumi away from him, sneaking out once more.

**-Uchimaki-**

Yumi stirred from her sleep and looked up to find herself carried by a man with a mask. The eyes of the mask were outlined in green, with green scales outlined over the entire thing. Overall, the mask was elongated, and slightly resembled a snake.

Yumi began to struggle, panicking over the unknown kidnapper.

"Relax." The man ordered. "You don't want to fall, do you?"

She paused. "Sasuke-sama?" When he didn't answer, Yumi pressed on. "Sasuke-sama, where are we going? Why was Naru-sama so mad? What's going on?"

Midnight Serpent came to a stop just outside the front gates of Konoha. "Take her." He threw Yumi towards three men who had been waiting. "Next time, we won't be so helpful; you'll have to deal with the loose."

"Don't worry." The man who caught Yumi chuckled. "You won't ever see her again."

The three men turned and left with a struggling Yumi sobbing as she called out.

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**Okay guys, so how was that chapter??? Let me know what you all think should happen next, or what you think will happen next... I only have so much of this planned out.**

**Uke-kun: I'm a bad guy now?**

**Aiko: You've always been a bad boy, but maybe you have a plan...**

**Naru-chan: He just wants to be punished.**

**Uke-kun: Now who's the pervert??? Maybe Orochimaru _did _rub off on me after all of those years...**

**Aiko: Maybe it's up to our readers to decide. ;-p**


	6. Attack

**Lookie, andother update. . I thod you guys I'd be better at this now, and I am. Well, I don't really have anything to say to start this one off... hmmm I guess just enjoy then.

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6. Attack**

Naruto jerked awake, and looked around. Something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what. Rubbing his eyes and blinking a few times, Naruto realized that he has at his apartment, and not the Uchiha Manor.

Suddenly, the previous day came rushing back to him, and he sighed in exhaustion. Flopping back onto the bed, Naruto looked to his right, only to find Yumi missing.

The blonde jumped up, and in a panicked frenzy, he searched the house. Not finding her, Naruto rushed to check the village.

**-Uchimaki-**

Naruto paced frantically back and forth across his office. He was in his full Hokage robes with Sai, Neji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee assembled before him.

Abruptly, Naruto paused in front the men. "I'm sending the four of you on a mission of the highest priority. Yumi, the little girl who was staying with me, has been kidnapped. We know that they are headed towards the lightning country. I've already informed the Kazekage, and he's sent shinobi to patrol the boarders."

The Hokage turned specifically to Lee. "Since you're the fastest, Lee, I want you to head straight for the halfway point and patrol that area as much as possible."

"Hai." Lee saluted.

Naruto turned to the others. "They may try and avoid going through Suna's area, so Kiba, I want you to follow their trail until you get close enough for Neji to find them with the Byakugan."

"What about me?" Sai smiled.

"When you catch them, I want you to defeat them in the most humiliating way possible, Sai." The Hokage answered, dead serious.

Sai's smile turned slightly evil. "Hai!"

"Naruto." Neji stood with his eyes closed and arms crossed. "If she was really taken by those men from the lightning country, we risk starting a war. Are you really willing to put the village in that kind of danger?" Slowly, he opened his eyes, and stared at Naruto.

"I'm the Hokage." Naruto growled. "I'll handle whatever comes up. You're just suppose to do what I tell you to, so go do it."

Neji remained silent for a moment. "Hai, Hokage-sama." He bowed, and the three men, and dog, left.

Naruto sighed and sunk into his chair. Neji was right; he couldn't put the village in danger like he was doing. What kind of Kage would allow for such a thing to happen? He was hopeless.

"Nii-san!" Konohamaru pulled Naruto's attention back to the present.

"Hai?"

The younger boy sighed in relief. "Kakashi has a high fever and can't get out of bed. Sasuke… Well, Sasuke says he refuses to help and that he stands by what he said before."

"What?" Naruto jumped from his chair. "That bastard! I'm Hokage now; he has to respect my authority. I'm gonna kill him." He stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut.

Konohamaru sighed.

**-Uchimaki-**

Yumi was furious. She was no longer struggling in her capture's arms, but had her arms crossed, and was fuming. Not only had Sasuke handed her off to these jerks, but her demonic nature wasn't taking over. Her demonic nature wasn't taking over. Her mood just kept getting worse and worse.

Having traveled with these men, Yumi learned that they were Kogo, Yazu, and Neko, and they were the lowest of the best tier of shinobi from the lightning country; they bragged a lot. Now they were heading down a very peaceful seeming path towards the water country.

Yumi was jerked back to the present. The three men had stopped suddenly; another man was blocking the path. This new stranger wore a straw hat and a long black cloak with a red cloud print. The name Akatsuki came to Yumi's mind, but she didn't know from where.

"I'll be taking the girl." The stranger commanded calmly.

"And who do you think you are to order us around?" Kogo demanded.

"We're on strict orders from the lightning country." Yazu added.

The stranger chuckled. "It's been a while since I could fight without holding back. The only question is, who do I let live?"

Kogo threw Yumi to Neko and charged at the Akatsuki member. The man lifted his head enough for crimson eyes to reveal themselves. Kogo seemed to panic, and slipped, falling on to his own kunai.

Yazu appeared behind the man, and slashed him across the back. At the same time, Kogo seemed to regain himself, and shot a bolt of lightning at the man. This attack hit a moment after Yazu drenched the stranger with a wave of black water.

The man just chuckled as his body dissolved into a flock of ravens, which began tearing flesh from the two shinobi. They quickly left behind two mounds of raw flesh and bones.

The birds came together to form the man once more. "Now, I would prefer a witness, so will you hand over the girl, or do I have to reduce you to the same fate as these two?"

Neko dropped Yumi and took off at full speed, dead North. Before Yumi could pull herself up, the man swooped down and scooped her into his arms. His eyes glazed over for a moment, and he smirked.

**-Uchimaki-**

Kiba missed the branch he was about to land on, and landed hard on the forest floor below, gagging.

Akamaru barked, and the other two men landed nearby.

"What's wrong, Dog-boy?" Sai smiled. "Is it a full moon?"

Akamaru growled, but Kiba placed a hand on his back to pull himself up and calm the dog down. "Something's wrong. They stopped, but almost as soon as they did the scent of raw flesh took other; it's the only thing I can smell right now."

The men looked in the direction that they had been going in for a moment before rushing off that way.

* * *

**Akatsuki member with red eyes... o.O**

**Naru-chan: Anou, I thought Sasuke killed Itachi.**

**Uke-kun: ...**

**Aiko: I feel an evil laugh coming on... What do you all think???**


	7. Respect

**GOMEN!!! GOMEN!!! GOMEN!!! I am SOOOOO SOOOO SOOO sorry that this has taken me so long to update. I don't even have an excuse that is reasonable or worthy. I just... Well, I was having a hard time writting the fight scene in this chapter, so I skipped it and decided to come back, but then I lost the next chapter and started to re-write it, then found the original and decided to mix the two together, then I just kind of got out of the habit of writting.**

**But I PROMISE that won't happen, at least for a while. School has started up again, and I go with my cousin at night, that way she doesn't have to ride the bus alone in the dark. She's tall and a fighter, so she really wouldn't have any issues, not that we normally have issues (I'm a little girl, and I still never had any problems riding alone at night), but since it's an hour long bus ride one way, and she's only in class for a couple of hours, I take her to school and then wait, so I have TONS of time to kill while waiting. **

**I've also re-read the story, and will re-read the entire trilogy so that I refresh my memory, and that has gotten me back into writting this. I'm really into it. As a matter of fact, I'm writting the next chapter right now, and will probably finish it tonight, or tomorrow, maybe thursday. I'll post it as soon as I know this chapter has been read by a couple of people, that way I know you have forgiven me.**

**Again, I am SOOO sorry this has taken so long. Please forgive me and enjoy this chapter. So long as people are reading, I will post multiple times a week. Well, at the very least, once a week. I SWEAR.****

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**

7. Respect

Naruto bolted down the streets of Konoha, taking turns before his brain had even registered them. His fury had already taken over him, and he could feel his fangs starting to come in. It was bad enough that the bastard thought he should hand Yumi over to the Lightening Country, but now he was disobeying the orders of the Hokage. Naruto growled; he wasn't going to let Sasuke get away with it.

The blonde skidded to a halt as he came to the Uchiha training grounds. Ever since things had settled down, and whenever Naruto was busy with his duties, Sasuke would spend his time training here. He claimed that the others left him alone more often if he remained in the Uchiha Compound.

Just as he had suspected, Sasuke was there, a kunai hanging from each finger.

"Teme!" Naruto yelled from across the field. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms, seemingly not paying attention, yet at the same time making sure that he didn't cut himself. "I'm on leave for the week, remember Dobe?"

"That's not what I meant." Naruto dug his claws into the ground, causing it to split all the way to where the Uchiha stood. "I gave you a specific order."

"To plunge the village into war, with so many of our shinobi just starting their families?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, not even paying attention to the Kyuubi aura surrounding his lover. "Unless you want to destroy us all, you need to use your head more."

Rage taking over, Naruto leapt towards the pale man, slashing at him. Sasuke merely jumped backwards to avoid it, then to the side as a clone came in with a kick. As soon as he landed on the ground, a hand shot up and hooked on to Sasuke's ankle. Two more clones rushed him, one holding the Rasengan. The attack hit its mark, but when the smoke cleared, a log stood in the Uchiha's place.

"I'm the Hokage now, which means you HAVE to obey my orders." Naruto called out, scanning the area for the man. When he couldn't find him, his frustration grew. "Dammit! Come out and fight like a man, you coward!"

"You know I can't do that, Hokage-sama." Sasuke's voice seemed to come from all directions, and was very clearly mocking the blonde. "An attack against you would be an attack against the village. I don't plan to be Konoha's enemy again."

"Bastard." Naruto pulled off his robes and threw them off to the side, along with his hat. "Don't fight me as Hokage, then; fight me as an old teammate that's going to force you to respect my orders."

Sasuke 'tsked'. "You really are an idiot. In order for me to have any respect for you, you'd have to be a worthwhile opponent."

Finally, Naruto's enhanced ears caught where the sound was coming from, and he rushed toward a tree. Before he made it a quarter of the way, the blonde dodged to the side, avoiding a shower of kunai from the sky. Turning to look, Naruto tripped over a rock, rolling on the ground to avoid Sasuke landing on him.

The next second, a clone had slashed four wounds into the Uchiha's back, and the Naruto on the ground disappeared in a puff of smoke. The men then came together once more in a volley of punches and kicks. Both jumped apart as another wave of kunai showered down, neither one knowing which one it came from.

"It seems your desk job has made you weak, Dobe." Sasuke smirked. "Or were you always THIS pathetic? I can't seem to remember."

"I'll kill you if I have to." Naruto gritted. "Just give me a reason."

Sasuke scoffed and his smirk grew. "Well, how about the fact that I gave Yumi to the Lightening shinobi?"

Naruto froze in place. "You… What?"

"I won't just sit by while you screw your life up, Dobe. If I have to be the one to sacrifice a child to keep this village from turning on you, then so be it."

"B-bastard!" Naruto slashed at Sasuke again. "She was only a child."

"She was a demon. She was dangerous."

Tears began to fill blue eyes. "She was like me. Does that mean I am dangerous? Would you hand me over to be killed too?"

"That's different." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You've learned to control the Kyuubi; she shares her body, allowing the demon to take over whenever it wants."

"She could learn."

"We can't risk that." Sasuke voice lowered. "I'm surprised the Third even risked keeping you alive."

Naruto blacked out as he completely gave in to the Kyuubi, the only thought in his head to kill Uchiha Sasuke whatever it took.

**-Uchimaki-**

Neji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Sai landed on the path, blocking the man now holding Yumi. They took note of the straw hat and the red and black Akatsuki cloak. Kiba and Akamaru both tensed, Neji seemed nonchalant, and Sai cocked his head to the side.

"I thought Naruto killed everyone is Akatsuki." Sai looked at the other men. "Except for Itachi, but Sasuke killed him."

The cloaked man smirked, and raised his head enough to reveal his eyes; blood red. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that this man was an Uchiha.

Kiba and Akamaru seemed to relax slightly, now knowing who their enemy was. "And I really thought we could trust Sasuke; after all, Naruto did."

"For a clan that is supposed to be extinct, you Uchiha's seem to appear everywhere." Neji scoffed.

The man chuckled and began to remove his hat. "Perhaps that's because the Hokage's orders were not fulfilled."

**-Uchimaki-**

Naruto regained consciousness as his hand plunged into Sasuke's stomach, warm blood splattering all over him. He sunk to the ground, cradling the Uchiha in his lap. "Sasuke." He barely breathed as he whispered the name.

Sasuke smiled. "I guess I did underestimate you." He coughed, blood coming up. "Dobe." His eyes began to close.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice shot up in panic. "Sasuke!"

* * *

**I hope this passes your expectations, and I hope you haven't given up on me yet.**

**Honestly, Iam surprised that everyone accepted the Akatsuki member as Itachi. I thought there might be more theories about it. I always liked Itachi, and, maybe it's because I'm a big sister, I had always strongly believed that he did what he did to protect Sasuke. I don't know how far the anime has gotten, since I've been reading the manga, but we now know that we crazed fangirls were right about that. Of course, my story doesn't really line up anymore at all, with recently developements, but ANYWAYS...**

**Naru-chan: Did... Did I kill Sasuke for real???**

**Uke-kun: No way the fans would allow that; I'm part of this pairing, after all.**

**Aiko: I'm also a big fan of pairing Naruto with Sai and Gaara too, though.**

**Uke-kun: . . .**


	8. Return

**I told you that it would be updated quickly, and look, it is. It might even be sooner than some of you expected. As a matter of fact, I already have Chapter 9 finished, and am simply waiting to see what you guys think about the direction the story is going in before I continue. After all, the next couple of chapters might make some people freak out.**

**Anyways, as always, please enjoy this lovely little chapter.**

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8. Return

"So, what do we do now?" Sai asked. "Naru-chan said to defeat the enemy in the most humiliating way possible, but since he saved Yu-chan from the Lightening guys, he's not the enemy, right?"

"You're almost as dense as that dobe." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he finished removing his hat, revealing himself to the others. "Maybe Orochimaru had a point about Konoha."

Yumi struggled free and ran to hide behind Akamaru. "I want to go back to Naru-sama." She began to cry as she pulled herself on to the dog's back. "Take me back."

"Didn't you tell Konohamaru that you weren't going to help?" Kiba asked, no one moving from their place.

"I really wanted to try out some techniques I read about." Sai pouted.

"I said I want to go home, NOW!" Yumi yelled. She stared fiercely up at the men, her eyes dark and demanding.

"A-a-alright." Kiba stuttered. "Th-that was our mission anyways."

Neji chuckled. "Are we afraid of little girls?"

"Shut up." Kiba turned red as they started on their way. "You've never had a sister. They're evil when they're mad."

**-Uchimaki-**

Naruto remained where he sat, even after the body had disappeared in a puff of smoke. It had only been a clone, but it had seemed so real; it had even bled.

No matter how he tried reasoning things out, the bottom line was the same; Naruto had killed Sasuke over a girl he barely knew. He had lost complete control over the demon inside of himself, and was capable of obliterating those closest to him over something that could be undone; over something that WAS being undone. He knew that either Neji, Sai, and Kiba, or Lee would bring Yumi back.

Even if it was only a clone, what he had done was unforgivable. How could he face Sasuke, or any of his friends for that matter, again? He really was a danger to all of them. Perhaps the third SHOULD have done what the villagers wanted when he was a baby and killed him.

"…sama. Naru-sama." A small voice pulled Naruto back to reality. When he looked up, he saw Yumi staring down at him, tears in her eyes. Instantly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and fell into his laps, burst into sobs.

"I didn't runned away." The little girl managed to get out. "I swear I didn't runned away. I wanna stay with Naru-sama forever. I tried to fight back, and I even bit one of 'em, but they were so big, and my demon side didn't take over 'cause it knew that there was a plan, and I didn't want to go nowhere, and please don't be mad that I disappeared, Naru-sama. Please don't make me leave."

Naruto tightened his grip on the girl. "It's okay." He soothed. "You didn't do anything wrong." As he continued to whisper Yumi, he looked over to see who had brought the girl back.

Sai stood a few steps away, watching the two with curiosity on his face. Naruto got up and gestured, and the two headed out of the Uchiha Compound, and to Naruto's old apartment.

By the time they had gotten there, Yumi had fallen asleep. Naruto set her on the bed, then made sure the place was secure before he and Sai settled down within sight of the girl, in order to talk.

"Where did you catch up with them at?" Naruto didn't look away from Yumi.

"We didn't." Sai was sitting against the wall, a pen and scroll pulled out. "Sasuke-kun had already killed two of them and had her in his arms by the time we caught up."

The blonde's voice seemed overly calm and even. "What happened?"

Sai shrugged. "Don't know. Sasuke-kun didn't tell us anything. He was dressed as Akatsuki, and he let one of them live. If you want to know anything else, you'll have to ask you boy-toy."

Naruto didn't react at all. "I see."

"Did something happen?" Sai perked up, and for once stopped working on whatever he was doing. "It's not like you to be so emotionless. You didn't even snap when I called Sasuke-kun your boy-toy. Usually that would get some kind of a rise out of you. Something must be wrong."

"I don't think I'll be in the village much longer." Naruto's eyes still seemed blank and far off. "I don't think I can be Hokage anymore."

* * *

**Naru-chan: _I'M _giving up??? _ME, _of all people???**

**Uke-kun: hm, well, you did kill me.**

**Naru-chan: IT WAS JUST A CLONE!!!**

**Aiko: O...M...G... I just had a brain blast and it seems that Naruto will be... err.... Wait, I havn't revealed that part yet; that's in two more chapters. Umm... Well, whatever Naruto is doing in chapter ten, he's going to be doing for a while. As I was writting this little endnote, it all came together in my head, and I know exactly how I'm going to pull all of my ideas about the relationship together... Well, the important part of the relationship, anyways. Oooo, Now I really CAN'T wait to be writting more. I'm gonna be writting non-stop, and posting a lot, and-**

**Naru-chan: //whispers// Do you think she'll ever stop rambling???**

**Uke-kun: I a little scared to see what happens when she does.**


	9. Decision

**Okay, so I've REALLY started writing on this story again, and I am currently working on chapter 13, but I want to post each chapter far enough apart that people have enough time to read. I'm also stalling out where I am though, which means I might glaze over it, or I might have to take another break, for like a week or so... Then again, that's still a few chapters away, so we'll see when we get closer to it.**

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**9. Decisions**

It had been a week since Yumi had been kidnapped and returned. In that time, Naruto had listened to the full official report from each shinobi he had sent after the Lightening Ninjas, as well as the report from Sasuke.

It had been Sasuke's plan all along to catch up with the Lightning shinobi once they were far enough away from the village. He had warned them that if they lost the girl, and she made her way back to them, Konoha would not help again, so by killing two of the men and taking Yumi back, word would get to the Raikage that she was a lost cause. This way the village could avoid a war, and still protect the girl.

As for the clone, the way Sasuke had used the Sharingan, it was impossible to deny it had been a true Uchiha. All the villages knew that Itachi, along with all the other members of Akatsuki were dead. If Sasuke could not be accounted for back in the village, Kumogakure could accuse Konoha of a set up. Sasuke had put as much chakra into the clone as possible to make it survive without him nearby, and he hadn't thought that Naruto would come at him full force like he did. Either way, it would be more believable that Sasuke had let Itachi live, rather than he had fooled those in the village.

Naruto took all of this in without even batting an eyelash, and had also sent all five men out on missions ranging from a few days to a few weeks. Everything seemed to go as normal within the village.

Except, that is, for Naruto himself. The blonde always kept a distant look in his eyes, and hardly ever spoke to anyone. Even though he and Yumi still went for ramen every day, Iruka had suspected that his former pupil wasn't really eating, and it didn't seem like he was sleeping. In any case, he had been staying at his apartment, and had only seen Sasuke long enough to send his team off on the longest of the missions. Anyone who was close enough to the Hokage, or who saw him on a regular basis, could tell that something was wrong, but he always brushed their questions off.

Finally, three days before Sasuke and his team were supposed to return to the village, Iruka and Kakashi got their turn to question Naruto. He had come to drop Yumi off.

"Thanks again for looking after her; I just have so much work to do right now." Naruto was saying as he put the girl's bag into a spare bedroom. "Besides, since I'm working so much, she doesn't get a chance to play with the other kids." He forced a smile.

"I don't care." Yumi's muffled voice could barely be heard. She had her head buried in Naruto's chest, and it was obvious that she was crying.

"Naruto, what happened when Yumi was taken?" Iruka broached the subject quickly. "You haven't been yourself since then, and everything just like the way it was before, except for you. Let us help."

"You're not planning anything drastic, are you?" As usual, Kakashi looked bored. "Like when Sasuke left."

The forced smile continued, and the blonde managed to fake a laugh. "Come on, how many times can I actually fake my own death and still have people believe me? Besides, I'm Hokage now; what can I really do?"

"Naruto, I'm worried about-" Iruka was interrupted.

"I'm really busy right now, Sensei." Naruto held up his hand. "Can we talk about his when I pick Yumi up?"

Iruka sighed. "Alright, but no more dodging after that."

"Yeah, yeah." For the spark of a moment, Naruto seemed like himself again, but it quickly disappeared. "Remember what I told you." He whispered as he gave Yumi a hug before handing her over to his former teachers. "Be good."

Yumi merely buried her face in Kakashi's chest and continued to sob.

* * *

**So... I really have nothing. I really like the next chapter because of what Naruto 'says' to Sasuke, but other than that... bleh.**


	10. Letters

**When I update always depends on when review come in... I really don't want to rush a story and then have it turn out not how you all wanted it. I'm going to have to re-read the story again because I had this greate idea of what I was going to do, which meant, I needed to re-write some things.**

* * *

**10. Letters**

As soon as Naruto had left, Iruka and Kakashi had turned on Yumi, trying to figure out what was going on, but the little girl would only tell them that she couldn't tell them anything until tomorrow afternoon.

The two men tried to wait patiently, but quickly gave up and began pacing. Finally, after they had eaten lunch, Yumi spoke up.

"Naru-sama is gone."

"He'll be back to pick you up tonight." Iruka answered off-handedly, not paying attention to what she meant.

"No." Yumi corrected. "Naru-sama left the village. He said that it was too dangerous for him to stay here, 'cause of his demon. He says that 'cause Mama is my demon, I'll be fine, but he couldn't stay in the village and it wouldn't be fair for him to pull me away from making new friends."

Both instructors were stunned into silence.

"He told me that when you guys figured it out, or after lunch today, I was supposed to give you letters that he wrote. There's one for you two, and one for Maru-nii, and one for Sakura-sensei, and one for Sasu-sama."

**-Uchimaki-**

Iruka and Kakashi had made Yumi bring them the letters, then the two men read through them all. When they were finished, they looked at each other, then moved to gather everyone in the Hokage's office.

With curtains closed, Iruka, Kakashi, Yumi, Konohamaru, Sakura, Sai, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, and a recently returned Sasuke huddled around the Hokage's desk. The two eldest men laid the letters out on the table for all to read, then waited in silence.

**-Uchimaki-**

To Konohamaru:

I'm leaving the position of Hokage to you. The villagers were right from the beginning, and I'm too dangerous for the position, but I've taught you everything that I know, so I know you'll do great. It's mostly just a bunch of paperwork anyways.

I'm counting on you to keep everyone safe, and do what's right for the village, even if it means you have to make sacrifices. Sometimes, it can't be avoided. You have guts, kid, so don't let anyone push you around, and stick to your guns. I believe in you.

**-Uchimaki-**

To Iruka and Kakashi:

Iruka-sensei, you've always been there to watch out for me, and you're probably the closest thing to a parent I ever had. You always took good care of me, and Yumi adores you, so I know she'll be safe with you. Please look after her and keep her as your own. Maybe she'll even be able to make Kakashi-sensei tone down his perverseness. Whatever you do, don't let Sasuke take her. I know he had a plan to get her back, but I don't like the idea of him using her as a pawn to work things out. She may be a demon, but she's just a child.

Kakashi-sensei, make sure nobody comes after me, especially that teme. I can't control Kyuubi, which makes it too dangerous for me to be around others. I know I'm hot-headed and completely fall into my emotions, which is why the demon can take over. I can't even control myself, so please don't let me hurt anyone who may come after me.

**-Uchimaki-**

To Sakura:

Please don't be angry or hurt. I know I'm leaving again, and it may seem like I'm abandoning everyone, but really it's for everyone's own good. I can't trust myself around any of you, so how can I expect any of you to trust me. I won't be coming back, but I promise to stay alive, and remember, I always keep my promises.

**-Uchimaki-**

To Sasuke:

I hate you, you bastard. Stay away from Yumi, and if you come after me, I'll kill you, just like I killed your clone.

**-Uchimaki-**

Attached to Sasuke's letter was a picture of Naruto, sticking out his tongue, and pulling one eye down, just like a little kid. The Uchiha couldn't help but laugh when he saw it.

"Same old Naruto." He mused to himself.

"What do we do?" Iruka looked around at the others.

"I WONT accept this!" Konohamaru threw his letter to the ground and stomped on it. "There's no way he'd just bail on us like that. Naruto-nii has gotta be under some kind of jutsu, or sick, or just plain out of his mind. We gotta bring him back, even if it's kickin' and screamin'."

"You'll never find him." Yumi's voice was filled with tears. "He was in the village for a year without anyone knowing it was him. For all you know, he could still be here right now."

"He just needs time." Sakura remained completely calm, shocking everyone. "We've all depended on him so much in the past to be a beacon of hope and happiness for all of us. He's always been light-hearted and happy-go-lucky, even when the rest of us couldn't keep it together. He'll come back when he's ready."

Konohamaru panicked. "But I'm not ready for this; what do we tell the village?"

"He's not thinking things through." Shikamaru sighed. "If we don't find him, he's going to end up getting himself killed or something, and it's only going to cause problems."

Almost as if on cue, everyone looked at Kakashi.

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**Review and I'll get the next chapter out quickly, otherwise, I may just be too destracted with other things.**


	11. Tsunade

**Gomen!!! I'm sorry I disappeared again, but I swear my butt is completely in gear now. I'm also sorry for this chapter... It's so short, but that's why you get two for the price of one. I honestly have no excuse for myself, so please forgive me.**

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11. Tsunade

Everyone looked to Kakashi, but he didn't seem to know what to say, so Iruka stepped in. "Listen, guys, Naruto doesn't want to be found. Sure, we're all worried about him, but he can take care of himself."

"When has that idiot ever been able to take care of himself?" Sasuke scoffed.

"Naruto took care of all of us, not just himself, when you were gone." Shikamaru mused. "It seems pointless for us to worry about him like he's still some little kid."

Kakashi smiled. "But you can't help but do it."

"I guess that settles it." Sai smiled brightly. "We're going after the dickless wonder."

"The only question is where to start." Neji completely ignored Sai. "And what to tell the villagers; we can't let them know what's really going on, but it's not likely that they will just ignore Naruto missing."

Everyone paused as the door was thrown open. "Alright, kid, how bad are you failing right now? I bet you've been slacking so much you're even more behind than I was." Tsunade's cheerful voice bellowed out, but her expression dropped when she saw the group without Naruto. "Where's the squirt."

Everyone looked to Kakashi again, but he was interrupted before he could even begin. "On second thought, I don't want to know. Just tell me whatever you're going to tell the villagers, and I'll take over again until Naruto is able." Tsunade could instantly tell that something was wrong, and she knew that the less she knew, the better.

"Naruto is extremely ill, and highly contagious." Shikamaru threw out, not sounding convincing at all. "He has to be quarantined."

Tsunade sighed. "Fine, I'll announce it to the village. In the meantime, make sure you work as quickly as possible to make her better." She then waved for them to leave her office.

Iruka quickly gathered all of the letters from the table, and they all shuffled out.

As Tsunade sat down at the desk that was now hers once more, Shizune jumped on her. "Nee-san, you're not seriously just going to-"

Tsunade held up her hand to stop the young woman. "So long as I don't know the truth, I don't have to worry about lying to the village. Besides, I'm not quite sure I want to know what that brat has gotten himself into this time." She sighed and leaned back in her chain, closing her eyes.

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**Again, sorry about the shortness. Originally, this chapter was supposed to be some sort of big deal, and I wrote done a little blerb to remind myself later, but I have somehow misplaced my thoughts on the matter, so it came out super small. But, I'm also posting the next chapter with it, so don't hate me.**


	12. In Another Part Of The World

**This chapter may seem a little random and out of place, but it is very important none the less.**

**Enjoy.**

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12. In Another Part Of The World

Haruko took a deep breath as she entered Suna, releasing it slowly as she began to walk through the village. It was going to be hard, starting life all over again, but the determined look in the girl's eyes made it obvious she was ready for it.

Haruko was a young woman, in her early twenties, with short black hair and matching Onyx eyes. She wore a dark blue kimono with white trimming. Overall, she was a pretty girl, but rather plain and unnoticeable.

The village was quiet this early in the morning, and Haruko was glad for that; it would give her a chance to look around and get familiar with her surroundings before somebody stopped her to ask questions.

Speaking of which, for now, what the girl needed more than anything was to find a place to stay. She had brought money with her, but from her experience traveling, she knew that she wouldn't last long. She'd also need a job, quickly, if she planned to stick around this village.

Haruko spent another hour walking through the streets before she finally found a cheap hotel. The place was deep within Suna, in a questionable part of the village. Haruko was accosted by a couple local hoodlums who were hanging around the building, but she just ignored them and continued on her way.

After she was settled in, Haruko collapsed on the bed from heat and exhaustion, where she remained until night had firmly settled over the desert.

"I need a stiff drink." She mused to herself. Her voice was dry, and slightly raspy, but also small and meek.

Haruko ran her fingers through her hair before shuffling out of the small room and back out onto the streets. After a few minutes of searching, she entered the first bar she could find.

"Welcome." The man behind the bar called out. "What can I get for you?" He was a huge, muscular man, completely bald except for a short blonde goatee. He had small blue eyes and a big toothy grin that didn't seem to fit his build.

Haruko brushed this off and went to sit at a stool. "I need something strong."

"I have just the thing." The man disappeared for a moment, and when he came back, he had a tall glass filled with green liquid. He set the glass in front of the girl. "Rough day?"

"More like rough life." She answered as she began to down the drink. It was salty with a slightly tangy aftertaste. Haruko couldn't taste the alcohol, but it hit her instantly. "I lost my daughter and husband, so I decided to run away from home. You'd think I'd be too old for that by now."

"I know what you mean." The man got chatty. "My wife kicked me out and took our kid to stay with my parents, so I had to get out of there. I just got into town a few days ago and started this place up, and let me tell you, I'm way too old to be running away."

Haruko laughed, and the man quickly got her another drink. "Other than how dead this place is, I'd never have known."

"I just haven't figured a way to pull customers in yet." He pouted. "I bet if I had a cute little waitress, it'd help. Want a job?"

Haruko paused, wondering if the liquor was making her hear things. "Like, here?"

The man gave a hearty laugh. "No, on the moon. Of course here."

"Deffinately." She jumped on the offer. Today could not have been a more perfect day; she already had a place to stay and a way to make money. "I'm Haruto Haruko, by the way."

"The name's Hikaru." He smiled again, pointing at himself with his thumb. "Welcome aboard."

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**Next chapter: A team is formed to find Naruto and everyone is given a codename... Guess who is Cockscomb.**

**Naru-chan: *still mad about not being in the story anymore***

**Aiko: Are you sure about that?**

**Naru-chan: Wait... what?**

**Tell me what you think is going on, and what you think SHOULD go on.**


	13. Secrets

**I now have two lovely BETA-readers reading for me now, so now I won't be completely to blame when I mess up the fact of how the villages/countries are laid out, even though nobody called me on it. They have opted to remain clueless to my evil plans, right now, so they shall be as surprised as you are when it comes to reading the stories.**

**This chapter changed a whole LOT from what it originally was before I totally messed myself up, but I think I'll enjoy the way it all goes better, in the end. Also, I think the original chapter of this might end up being another chapter in a bit, so we'll see.**

**Enjoy.**

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13. Secrets

Kakashi stared lazily at the book in his hand. Right now, he was deep underground, with little to no light, and little to no hope of being able to read. He let out an audible sigh as he looked around at the others who joined him in this dark hole in the ground.

Iruka paced back and forth in their limited space, agitated and impatient. Konohamaru, Kiba, and Shino sat off to one side of the room, while Sakura and Shikamaru spoke in soft whispers on the other. Neji and Gaara, who had made an emergency trip from Suna, casually leaned against a wall, arms crossed in almost the exactly same fashion, while Lee bounced between the two of them, trying to get them to talk. Sai was doodling, although it was highly unlikely that he could see what he was doing either.

Kakashi sighed again. "And I'm supposed to be the one who's always late."

That morning, Sasuke had asked Kakashi to stop by the Uchiha compound so that he could so the older man how to get into the room that the Uchiha's had hidden away. Sasuke had led them to the house where Naruto had stayed as Full Moon Fox, near the lake. Within, the back wall was pushed back with a certain amount of chakra, in a very particular place that could only be found using the Sharingan. Then it was a trip down several flights of stairs which curved around to lead under the lake itself.

Sasuke had told the jounin that he was showing him all of this because he would probably be slightly late to their meeting. Naturally, most of the ninjas had shown up an hour ago, and even Kakashi had only been half an hour late. Sasuke, on the other hand, was still nowhere to be seen.

"I can't wait any longer, Kakashi-san." Iruka decided suddenly. "We'll do this without him if Naruto-kun isn't important enough for him to show up for."

Kakashi thought about trying to calm the brown-haired shinobi down, but quickly changed his mine. Even he didn't want to test Iruka when he was mad. "Hai, hai, then I suppose we will lay down the ground work for our new group, HOTARU." As he pulled out a stack of plain white masks, and everyone gathered close by. Each mask was void of any decoration, except for a single flower of different varieties on the forehead of each.

"Iruka, you can't leave the village because of your teaching position, so your job will be to remain here and pretend to help Sakura take care of Naruto. It will be your job to make sure nobody gets suspicious about what's going on, and you'll be known as Gardenia." He handed him a mask with a corresponding flower. "Just in case."

"Sakura, you'll be Cherry Blossom, and while pretending to take care of Naruto, you'll be keeping your ears open for any gossip that might pertain to him. He never was good at remaining hidden."

The pink-haired woman took her mask and placed it on her face. Now she could almost understand how Naruto became a different person while he was Full Moon Fox. "Hai."

"Sai-" Kakashi was interrupted before he could even begin.

"I want this one." Sai held up the thing he was doodling on earlier. It turned out that his canvas was one of the white masks he had snuck away from Kakashi and was altering. "Cockscomb." He said proudly.

Kakashi was silent for a moment before brushing it off and continuing. "You're to make sure Naruto isn't still in the village." He turned to the next one. "Scabiosa, Hyacinth, and Larkspur." Kakashi handed a mask to Kiba, Shino, and Neji all in turn. "Each of you will try to pick up Naruto's trail using your various skills.

"Konohamru, your job is to spread the rumors of Naruto's sickness throughout the village, as well as being the go between for the group and Tsunade, that way our members can be sent out to specific locations as needed. You'll be referred to as Allium."

Konohamru took his mask and followed Sakura's lead. When they got Naruto back, he was going to punch him as hard as he could.

"Lee will be sent out most often, searching other villages, since he is the fastest. Viburnum." He paused as he looked at Gaara. "You will keep your eyes open as well, Desert Rose, won't you?"

"When this is over, Naruto and I shall be even." Gaara answered in a leveled voice, taking his mask.

"I will wear the Genistra mask, and Shikamaru will wear Watsonia. Everyone is to report in to the two of us so that we can assess the situation and decide our next move. If Sasuke decides to show up, he will be Eremurus, and will wait here to try and draw Naruto out. For tonight, that is all." Kakashi dismissed them.

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**Aiko: I'll actually start putting my name so that you all know whether it's me or my BETA-readers saying hi to you guys. -_-() I really hate the fact that this chapter seems so tactical… I just want to shout "Less Secret Groups, More Mindless Smut!"**

**Chika: This chapter made me sad and depressed… I want more!!! (I'm a crazed fan-girl) … I do love how Sai was able to see enough to draw, but Kakashi wasn't able to see enough to read… Obviously, Sai's eyes are better than the Sharingan. (Also a crazed Sai fan-girl)**

**Lala: This chapter was really needed, but I still can't wait until the next one.**


	14. Enter Sand Man And Woman

**Double Chapter!!! I really didn't like how pathetic the last chapter was, so you get a double chapter. I do like this one, even though it seems to be mindless filler, but it's funny. The filler on the show was always my favorite part anyways.**

**Enjoy.**

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14. Enter Sand Man… and Woman

Hikaru was right when he said all that he needed was a pretty waitress to bring in the customers. What he didn't anticipate was just how popular Haruko would become. Within the first week of her starting work, Haruko had more than quadrupled the amount of clients which frequented the Fox Trot, as Hikaru had named it. Once it had been discovered that Haruko could sing, all bets were off. Every night, the young woman would belt out song after song on stage, and every night, the bar would be completely packed. It wasn't long until word had spread to all corners of Suna.

It also wasn't long before Temari and Kankurou decided that they needed to check this place out. The bar was already jam packed when they arrived, but being the Kazekage's siblings came with the perk of always having room made for you.

"This place really is hot." Kankurou looked around in surprise as he and his sister took their seats at a booth.

Temari was just as amazed. "How could we not have heard about this place sooner?"

"That'd be thanks to my new help." Hikaru smiled a toothy grin at the two of them, motioning towards Haruko on stage performing. "I owe a lot to that little lady. Anyways, what can I get ya?"

"Tequila Sunrise." Temari answered, her tone flat and business-like.

"Rum and Coke." Kankurou was a little meeker. He waited for Hikaru to leave after their drinks before whispering quickly to his sister. "I don't recognize either of them. Do you think it could be trouble?"

"People come and go through here all the time; it's not like we keep track of all of them." Temari snapped back just before drinks were set down before them, and the barman went to attend to other customers. "I'm more worried about the fact that Gaara decided to take off to Konoha without giving any explanation, and then wouldn't let us go with him. Something must be up."

"Why don't you just squeeze it out of your boy toy?"

Temari hit her brother upside his head, then turned her attention to her drink, enjoying the show. After a while, she came to understand why this place had gotten so big so quickly. The owner was open and friendly with everyone, seeming to care a great deal about their stories and their troubles. The waitress/singer provided excellent entertainment, plus eye candy for the men, while not taking any crap from any of them, completely unafraid to smack around those who stepped out of line.

Five or six drinks later, Temari turned her attention back to her brother, completely drunk off her ass. "And what's with you men always assuming something is gonna be trouble, anyways?" She demanded. "Troublesome, troublesome, troublesome; that's all I ever hear. Men! Now there's the real trouble. Even my brothers cause me nothing but worry. I swear, Gaara disappears in the middle of the night, all alone, and YOU!" she pointed an accusing finger at her brother. "When are you going to find a girl and get married? I wanna be an aunt, and Gaara is far too young for that. Have you even ever talked to a girl? You're going to die a virgin."

Kankurou turned bright red under his make-up. "Whether I'm a virgin or not is none of your business. And what about you? You're the eldest; you'll end up being an old maid."

"Ha." Temari scoffed. "I'm already engaged. If Shikamaru would just get off his lazy ass, we could finish this thing, but no, the lazy bastard apparently had better things to do." Suddenly, the blonde girl made a realization and stood up. "I should go to Konoha and kick his ass right now. That'll get his ass in gear."

Kankurou quickly grabbed hold of his sister before she could run off. Only now did he realize that her rage was nothing more than a drunken rant. "Shikamaru's right, women are troublesome."

"We're not all that bad." Announced a cheerful Haruko, appearing at the man's side. "Did she over do it? I keep telling that Old Man he needs to learn when to cut people off. Do you need help getting her home?"

"No, no, I can handle it." Kankurou waved her off quickly with a smile. "She just needs some air." And with that, the dark haired shinobi led his sister out of the bar and down the streets back down the streets to their home.

Suddenly, Temari collapsed on her brother's shoulders. "Rou-chan, I'm sleepy."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." He groaned as he half dragged, half carried, his sister. "Something about that place felt really familiar."

"That's jus' 'cause we're all good ol' friends." Temari called out in a sing-song voice. "Best'a friends, best'a friends!"

Kankurou sighed, trying to get Temari home before she woke the village up, or at least before Gaara returned.

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**Aiko: Aww, I love drunk Temari. I think she'd be the fun one to watch fall all over herself at a bar, yes?**

**Lala: I agree; Temari was hilarious. I love her as a drunk.**

**Chika: Ditto… I absolutely adored this chapter… It was just what I needed with the kind of night I had. Ooo, and I can't wait for the next chapter. EVIL!!!**

**Next Chapter: Another meeting for HOTARU, and Yumi turns against Kakashi and Iruka.**


	15. Secrets, Sickness, and Surveillance

**Hello my beautiful, wonderful, perfect, readers… You can tell that something is up, can't you? I knew**

**Well, the thing is, this chapter isn't the chapter promised in the little teaser I posted. Instead, this is a chapter which is needed, because it starts a plot arch, yet at the same time… Well, I honestly don't know.**

**I had written out the Yumi battle scene that was promised, but I didn't think it fit with the flow of this particular chapter, and neither did my BETA-readers, so it will be in the next chapter, which I will post in the next couple days as well.**

**Also, I tried to post this a few days ago, but it wouldn't let me upload it for some reason. I think it might be because I just switched everything over to a brand new laptop and I was still installing all of my stuff.**

**For now, enjoy.**

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15. Secrets, Sickness, and Surveillance

In the darkness of night, HOTARU gathered deep within the holds of the Uchiha Compound. Unknown to outsiders, within an abandoned house near the lake on the grounds, a secret passageway existed. With the right chakra pattern, a wall would open up, revealing a stairway which led underneath the water of the lake itself.

For the last few months, ever since the organization had formed, HOTARU had been using this area as a base of operations. Here, they could conduct all of their business without any worries of eavesdroppers.

In these depths, twelve people gathered together, each wearing a plain white mask with a single flower painted on the forehead. Each flower was different, and each member took on the name of their flower.

"It's almost been three months." Desert Rose glared at the others. He stood slightly away from everyone else, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. Once a month, he would travel down from Suna in order to participate in these meetings, leaving his siblings behind. "How is it possible that you haven't found him yet?"

"He's really good at hide-and-seek?" Cockscomb offered, obviously smiling behind his mask.

Cherry Blossom smacked him upside the head. "If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. Everyone keeps forgetting that he didn't become Hokage just because we all liked him."

"That's debatable." Eremurus scoffed. Sasuke hadn't missed a meeting since their first, but he also didn't seem to put too much effort into their search.

Genistra sighed and held up his hands to calm everyone down before a fight could break out. "We all agreed that it's best for us to know where Naruto is, despite whether or not we are actually in contact with him. Larkspur, Scabiosa, Hyacinth, have any of you been able to pick up on his chakra or his scent?"

"No matter how far out I send my bugs, they come back empty handed." Hyancinth answered.

Larkspur confirmed. "I've been though every country and I still can't pick up on Naruto's unique double chakra."

"His smell keeps bringing me to a dead end, too." Scabiosa grumbled. "He always just smelt like ramen anyways."

"I keep running to all the ramen places I can find." Viburnum started out with a great fire in his voice, only for it to dull out. "But no one remembers seeing him."

Gardenia fiddled his fingers and spoke mostly to himself. "Where could that boy be?"

"Cherry Blossom is probably right." Watsonia leaned back in his chair, an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. His mask was slightly askew to allow this. "We've tried all that we can in order to find him; all we can do now is to continue looking. If he makes a mistake, he'll reveal himself to us. Otherwise, we just have to wait for him to come on his own."

Eremurus hit the wall with his fist. "This is bullshit." He pulled the mask from his face and threw it against another wall, then marched up the staircase. As he reached for the door to let himself out, his legs suddenly gave way underneath him, and he crashed to the floor. A wave of nausea followed.

Sakura was closely behind him.

**-Uchimaki-**

"…extremely ill." Before he could even open his eyes, Sasuke registered voices outside of his door. "I can't find any biological anomalies to cause it, and his body doesn't show any signs of neglect. There shouldn't be anything wrong, but people don't just collapse for no reason. Do you think it's psychological?"

"It's possible." Another, deeper, voice answered. "Naruto left because of him, and this is the second time we've all lost Naruto because of him. But, with all of us searching, it doesn't seem likely."

"I took a blood sample. I'll see if I can get anything from it." The first voice continued. "In the meantime, he shouldn't be left alone, in case he collapses again."

"Kakashi and I will take turns staying with him." A third voice made itself known.

"Alright, then I'll be back in the morning." Everything remained quiet after that until Sasuke fell back asleep.

**-Uchimaki-**

Over the next week, Sakura ran all kinds of test on her former teammate, and could find nothing wrong. Sasuke didn't have any more fainting spells, and the only complaint he ever made was a constant feeling of nausea. Other than that, he seemed completely fine.

Kakashi would stay with the Uchiha in the early morning and throughout the afternoon, quietly reading his book and letting Sasuke stew to himself. Iruka would take over in the early evening, and stay until Sasuke fell asleep at night. The brown haired shinobi was quite a bit chattier than Kakashi, but never expected his old student to talk back, so it was fine, as well.

The only thing Sasuke couldn't stand was the fact that Iruka and Kakashi stuck to Naruto's wishes, and always kept Yumi far away from the Uchiha. Sasuke had thought the two would have at least been able to realize what he was doing, and would have understood that it had to be done, but in the grand scheme of things, this was probably also their punishment for him for making Naruto leave.

It wasn't totally unbearable, though. Every night, after Yumi was put to bed, the little girl would create a Shadow Clone, an ability taught to her by Naruto before he left, and while the clone took her place in bed, Yumi would sneak off to the hospital. She would then sleep curled up next to Sasuke until just before dawn, when she would hurry back home. So far, the girl hadn't been caught.

**-Uchimaki-**

Nine days later, and Sasuke was fed up with being stuck in the hospital. As far as he could tell, and as far as Sakura could tell, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the shinobi. That morning, the Uchiha had decided he wasn't going to put up with it for one more day.

"I'm out of here today, whether or not you release me." Sasuke stared at Sakura, his voice cold and dripping with malice.

Sakura merely sighed. "If you leave before I've cleared your health, you'll be forced to stay in the village, and you won't be able to be assigned any missions."

Sasuke scoffed. "Is that all?" He grabbed a shirt that was draped over a nearby chair and proceeded to put it on.

Sakura stood dumbfounded for a moment before snapping back to her senses and turning to Kakashi. "Sensei, aren't you going to do anything."

Kakashi glanced up from his book. "Huh?" He took a moment to take in the situation before setting his sights back on the pages of Icha Icha Paradise. "No, stop, don't go." He called out, obviously not meaning any of it.

Sasuke smirked, finished getting dressed, then simply walked out the door.

"A lot of help you are." Sakura fumed.

"You can't force an Uchiha to do what you want." Kakashi stated matter-of-factly.

* * *

**Naru-chan: When do I get to come back into this story?**

**Uke-kun: And when do I get my sex-toy back?**

**Akio: *sweat drop* I'm working on it! Naruto doesn't even have the possibility of showing up until Shikamaru's and Temari's wedding.**

**Shika-kun: Please, dear god, no.**

**Tema-chan: *smack***

**Gaara-sama/Kank-kun: *evil deathly glare***

**Chika: Looks like Gaara and Kanakurou still don't fully approve of their future brother-in-law.**


	16. When Demons Come Out To Play

**T-T I hate this chapter for several reasons I'll reveal at the end, but I also think that it's a really good chapter, and it came out really well, since I hate writing fight scenes.**

* * *

16. When Demons Come Out to Play

Yumi snuggled closer to her source of warmth. Even though Sasuke had broken out of the hospital, she hadn't stopped coming to him each and every night. The only thing that changed was that the young girl now snuck off to the Uchiha Compound.

"Sasuke-sama?" Yumi whispered, testing to see if he was awake.

"Hn?" He responded. Both still had their eyes closed.

"When Naru-sama told me he was leaving, he said he wasn't ever comin' back." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "He left 'cause of me, didn't he? 'Cause those guys came for me, and were causing problems, and then when you brought me back it made you and Naru-sama fight, and then he gave me to Kashi-sensei and Ruka-sensei 'cause he didn't want to stay around with me, and that's why he doesn't want me with you 'cause of my demon and-"

Yumi paused when Sasuke pulled her into a tight hug. "It's not your fault; it's mine." He sighed. "I pushed Naruto too far without explaining what I was doing, and then I decided to test just how strong his feelings were, and I lost. He doesn't want me to hurt you."

"That's silly." Yumi protested. "Sasuke-sama would never hurt me." She sat up and placed her hands on her hips, making a face in the process. "When you guys bring Naru-sama back, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind and tell him to stop thinking such silly things."

Sasuke smirked, but it quickly faded. "You'd better get back home before Iruka and Kakashi wake up; it's almost dawn."

Yumi looked out the window and sighed. "Okay." This was the least favorite time for the both of them: the time when they had to say goodbye. "I'll be back tonight."

**-Uchimaki-**

Without a sound, Yumi crept through the bedroom window, and into her empty bed. The springs creaked, but she had otherwise mastered the art of coming and going as she pleased.

Or, so she had thought. The little girl realized just how mistaken she was when the light was flipped on and a very angry Iruka was standing in the doorway. "Where have you been?" The dark haired shinobi demanded.

Yumi just scoffed as she had seen Sasuke do a hundred times before. "Like it matters?"

Iruka's eyes widened in surprise. "It does when you are a little girl with rules to follow." He countered. "What would your parents think?" He spoke without thinking.

"Kaa-san thinks I'm wasting my time here among pathetically weak humans who do nothing but try and hold me back." Yumi answered matter-of-factly. When Iruka seemed too shocked to reply, she continued. "I was at Sasuke-sama's, so it's not like I was in any danger."

"Naruto-kun very specifically said-"

"Who the hell cares what Naru-sama said? He's gone; left us; abandoned us." The girl fumed. The tinge of blue in her eyes brightened as her demonic nature began to shine through. "I wanna be with Sasuke-sama." She declared and climbed back out her window.

"Now, now, that's no way to talk to adults." Kakashi chided, blocking her way down the street. Though his tone was light and lazy, it held a dangerous warning that he wasn't going to let her go.

Yumi growled. Her hair and nails grew a bit longer, and a silver glow radiated from her body. Her eyes turned like ice. "Don't try and stop me." She warned. She stomped her foot and frozen spikes shot from the ground in a line from her foot to Kakashi. As the spikes impaled him, Kakashi's body turned into a log.

"Now that wasn't nice." The silver-haired shinobi remarked from the roof. He had already revealed the sharingan, having learned from the previous time he had to face off with the child. "I think someone needs a time out."

Kakashi threw a scroll at Yumi, unraveling as it traveled towards her. It then wrapped around her, holding her arms tightly against her sides. Yumi growled again, and fangs and a tail appeared on her as the scroll was incased in a thick layer of ice. She then expanded her chakra and the entire thing shattered.

"You shinobi and your worthless little mind games." She seethed in a much more mature sounding voice. "You're all the same." Little by little, more control was given over to the demon within the girl.

Realizing that he had to end this fight before it got out of control, Kakashi jumped down and began sparring with the girl. Though her small stature made it easier for Kakashi to block and attack, the wave of chakra that surrounded her seemed to always keep him just out of reach.

After a few attempts, Kakashi jumped back to set up his next attack. The chidori formed in his right hand and he began to rush towards Yumi. The possessed girl quickly started to form a thick wall of ice between herself and her attacker. While she waited for the blow from Kakashi, another pair of hands came up from behind her and quickly marked her forehead.

Instantly, Yumi fell to the ground. The technique had been a strong, ANBU leveled, paralyzing jutsu preformed by the real Kakashi, while the chidori wielder had merely been a decoy. Kakashi sighed in relief that it had actually worked.

Until, that is, Yumi roared and four more tails sprouted from her backside, completely overriding the jutsu. She blew a cold blast into her hand and several kunai and shuriken made of ice formed. As she jumped to the side, she threw these at Kakashi.

As Kakashi jumped to avoid the projectiles, they split apart in order to follow him, several times, until most were lodged in the ground. One had barely grazed the shinobi's cheek, and it stung more than a normal cut would have. Another had found a spot in his right leg, and one in his left arm.

Another wave of chakra pushed Kakashi back as four more tails sprouted from Yumi. Now the girl was clearly hunched over on all fours and a clear canine snout had appeared.

'_If things keep going like this, she'll end up destroying the village, along with me.' _Kakashi thought to himself. _'I'll have to use the chidori to knock her out.'_ A clone appeared on either side of the man as he let his right arm fall limply in front of him, both clones copying every movement. He took a deep breath and felt the chakra build up inside of him. If he hit at multiple points, with a lower dosage of chakra, it should only be enough to disable the girl, and not destroy her. That's what he told himself as the chirps filled the air.

The clones dove apart, and all three charged at the demon, chidoris fully ready. Yumi prepared herself for the impact by forming three more tails and wrapping all of them around her body like a cocoon.

Just twenty meters. Kakashi counted off to himself. Ten. Five. Suddenly, Kakashi tackled the ground, forcing himself to stop. In the surprise, his two clones did the same thing and disappeared. Iruka had run out between the two, blocking an attack from either of them.

The demon-girl took her shot here. All twelve tails whipped back into place, slamming into Iruka and hurdling him into the air in the process. At the same time, she produced a wave of ice, wind, and water all to impact the dark-haired man as well. By the time he hit the ground, Iruka's lips were already turning blue.

Kakashi rushed over, prying to the gods that Iruka was alright. "Iruka, get up! Don't die on me!" Quickly he was being forced into shock. Sure, Kakashi had seen many horrible things in all of his years as a shinobi, but when it was the person you cared most about in the world, all of that experience flew out the window. "IRUKA!"

This sobered Yumi up. As one tail shot out, the other twelve were sucked back in. Her hair shrunk to her shoulders, and her eyes became more silver than blue, and seemed to melt. The almost snout was still there, as well as the claws, and now her poster returned to that of normal while she stood, yet dog-style as she sat.

Yumi began to rush over to her two impromptu guardians, yet skidded to a halt when the realization struck her. Yumi had been the cause of this; it was her fault Iruka was hurt. "Wha-what… did I.. do?" She asked as she looked down at her hands.

In mere moments, a group rushed past her, Sakura at the lead. While she tended to Iruka, Sai surveyed the area, and Neji turned to Kakashi.

"We sensed a massive battle." Neji began. "But it was so short, we feared the worst. What happened?"

All Kakashi could do was mumble Iruka's name, still being in a state of shock. Sai finally took notice of Yumi, still not completely human, and locked eyes with her. Before he could say anything, Sasuke scooped her up and wrapped her in his arms, hiding her in his chest. Instantly, she began to sob.

The Uchiha didn't wait around to find out what had happened or to see if anyone was hurt. Instead, he quickly took the girl home with him, cooing softly to her the entire time, trying to get her to calm down.

But, no matter how hard he tried, Sasuke couldn't get Yumi's sobs to stop. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She kept crying out until, a few hours later, she finally passed out from the exhaustion.

* * *

**Aiko: Okay, so the reason I hate this chapter so much is because Iruka is my favorite of the adults, and I absolutely love him to death. He's just like my husband, Lu-kun. Both teachers, both super-duper sweet, both care so much about others, especially kids, and both are super cute.**

**Lala: Poor Iruka. T-T**

**Chika: I feel evil now that I've asked so many questions and know what's coming up. I say poor Yumi; as far as she knows, she just killed one of her favorite people. And Lala is, apparently, anti-Yumi.**

**Lala: I am not; I'm just mad at her right now, even though it wasn't her fault. If she'd just listen to Naruto… (even though he was wrong, too)**

**Chika: When does anyone listen to Naruto?**

**Aiko: LMAO, so true.**

**Next Chapter: Will Iruka be okay? Will Sasuke be allowed to keep Yumi? Will Yumi turn away from her demon? Who will win when Yumi and Sasuke fight? Find out, next time, in Death of a Dobe Part 3: Uchimaki! (was that dramatic?)**


	17. Resolves and New Starts

**Okay guys, so I had half of this written up, and then I got stuck; I just couldn't get past Yumi talking to her demon. But, I had set up a plan that I would post every Friday, so I needed to get my butt in gear. Then, it turned out that that wasn't going to work for a bit because I got sick. I thought it was just a little bit of the flu, but Lu-kun made me go to bed anyways.**

**Turns out, I had pneumonia and ended up being in the hospital for about a week. Obviously, I ended up being okay because I'm writing this now, and I learned a very valuable piece of info; pneumonia is a great cure for writer's block. Although, I don't suggest trying it out for yourself; I became extremely paranoid when I was drugged up. I actually thought that the doctors were goblins and were trying to steal my thoughts and eat my brains. As far as I was concerned, they were out to get me.**

**Right after I got home, we found out that we got a house we put a bid in for, so we moved from a house we were renting, to a house we will one day own. It's an awesome house, and I absolutely love it, but we have so much junk it's going to take us forever to unpack. We barely have the computer set up, a box of dishes unpacked, and the bed and crib set up.**

**I will still be writing whenever I get the chance, so the chapters may be slow, but they will still come. I promise.**

**Enjoy.**

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17. Resolves and New Starts

Yumi cuddled deeper into her blankets and pillows, searching for more warmth. When she couldn't find what she was looking for, the young girl snapped awake. She bolted up into a sitting position and looked around. She was alone in a giant, double bed. The bed was completely trashed; pillows had been shoved off, along with the main comforter, and the girl was totally tangled in the sheets.

For the last month, Yumi had been living with Sasuke in the Uchiha Manor, and had slept every night in his bed. No matter how hard she tried, Yumi could not sleep alone, nor did she want to. Something inside told the little girl that if she let Sasuke out of her sight he would disappear on her too. Of course, that was ridiculous, but the girl didn't care.

Now, Sasuke was missing. Usually, the raven-haired man waited for Yumi to wake up, since she was never far behind, but today the bed had gone cold. Yumi got up and searched the rest of the house, not bothering to change out of the orange t-shirt Naruto left behind, which she now wore as pajamas.

No matter how hard she looked, Yumi could not find the Uchiha; he seemed to have completely vanished. Yumi began to panic; where had he gone? Had he left her? Who could she turn to now? What should she do next?

Yumi took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew that she was just making herself worry over nothing. Sasuke probably just had to get something from a shop, or go and talk to somebody about something, and didn't want to wake her up. That had to be it.

Making up her mind, Yumi wandered into the kitchen to find herself something to eat. She still didn't know how to cook yet, but luckily Sasuke kept a lot of fruit and vegetables around. She grabbed a banana and an orange, and went to sit outside on the porch and wait for her guardian to return.

She closed her eyes and took a bite of her banana, letting her mind wander deep into itself. When she opened her eyes again, Yumi was on an icy mountain. The snow was beating down and the wind was spreading it harshly around. Ice coated everything, yet the girl didn't seem to notice any of it.

_Yumi was dressed in a simple, white, sundress, without shoes. Her hair whipped wildly around her. "Kaa-san?"_

"_What?" There was a growl, and a few feet away the snow shifted to reveal a large white wolf. Its eyes were ice blue, and twelve tails blew gently against the wind._

_Yumi didn't seem to react to the beast, other than acknowledging it was there. "Kaa-san, why did this happen? Why did you attack Ruka-sensei?"_

_The beast scoffed. "You're far too young to understand, child, that sometimes people have to be eliminated for you to get what you want."_

"_But I didn't want Ruka-sensei or Kashi-sensei to be hurt." Yumi argued. "I just wanted to be with Sasuke-sama."_

"_And so they had to be eliminated." Kaori snapped. "A demon takes what they want, whenever they want, without letting anyone get in their way. That's how we survive."_

"_But I'm not a demon." Yumi pleaded. "I'm a girl, and I don't want to hurt those who are precious to me."_

_Again, the demon scoffed. "So long as you are connected to me and use my powers, you can't have anyone precious to you."_

That statement shocked Yumi back to reality, where Sasuke had been trying to get her attention.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, concern obvious in his voice.

Yumi shook her head. "I woke up and you weren't here." She motioned to her food. "Where did you go?"

The Uchiha took a seat next to the girl. "I went to talk to Kakashi and to make sure Iruka was still doing okay. He's going back to work when classes start up again. He's completely healed." He emphasized that last part.

Yumi simply nodded. She hadn't been to see Iruka or Kakashi since the incident, and neither one had stopped by the manor either. Sasuke had told her when Iruka stabilized, and when he was released from the hospital, and now that he was fully recovered, but he never said anything else; they had an unspoken understanding on the matter.

"I also spoke to Tsunade." Sasuke spoke up after a moment's pause.

"Tsunade?" Yumi had yet to meet the old woman who used to be Hokage, and had taken up the role again, but she had already decided that she didn't like her. She didn't even have a real reason, she just felt a wave of animosity.

Sasuke nodded. "I went to ask her about making our situation permanent; about making you an Uchiha, if you want."

Yumi's eyes went wide. "You mean like-" She couldn't finish.

Sasuke nodded and waited. Slowly, the realization could be seen sinking in the little girl's mind. A tiny smile began to creep across her face, before turning into a full blown grin, and Yumi jumped up into Sasuke's arms.

"Yes, yes, yes!" She squeeled.

**-Uchimaki-**

Yumi wiggled free from Sasuke's hold as soon as she could see the park and took off running towards it. The two had headed straight for Tsunade's office, to finish the paperwork, turning Yumi in Uchiha Yumi, and officially making her part of the village. Afterwards, Yumi had insisted they go to the playground to celebrate, and that way she could tell all of her friends.

"Hi guys, guess what?" Yumi called out as she jumped off a foothold and grabbed hold, with both hands, to the monkey-bars.

"You're really a frog?" Ryouta, the red-headed boy sitting on the jungle-gym, joked.

Yumi giggled, swinging back and forth. "No, silly." Ryouta, of course, had gotten just the reaction he wanted: making her laugh. "Sasuke-sama is my otousan now. We went to the Hokage and everything; she's _**really **_pretty."

"Congratulations." Shiori, the brown-haired girl with glasses, beamed at her.

"Miss Uchiha." The blonde girl, Moe, added in.

Kiku jumped off the top of the monkey-bars, determination clear in her voice. "Now we really have to do something special today."

"I know." Daiki agreed. "I'm gonna miss comin' here and gettin' to play with Yumi-chan."

"What do you mean by that?" Yumi asked, stopping in her rocking. When nobody answered, she dropped down to the ground and put her hands on her hips. "Guys, what did he mean by that?"

Moe sighed. "We can't play anymore, Yumi-chan."

"We're all starting the Ninja Academy tomorrow." Kiku agreed. "We'll be too busy with our ninja training from now on to play with you."

"We were just talking about doing something special since it's our last day in this park." Daiki explained.

For a moment, Yumi looked as if she had been hit with a bombshell, and was left completely emotionless. Without any warning she was back inside her own mind, in the wintery mountains that housed her demon.

"_I'm not going to use your powers anymore." Yumi declared boldly._

_The wolf-demon sighed. "You can't protect yourself, or those you care about, for that matter, on your own."_

"_Maybe not yet." She stood up straight. "But I'm going to go to the Ninja Academy and learn how. That way, I never have to risk you hurting anyone again."_

Yumi opened her eyes, sweeping her eyes across her friends. "Let's play **all **day today, until our parents hafta drag us away kickin' and screamin'." She gave them a toothy smile.

"Yeah!" They all agreed, and started a game of tag.

**-Uchimaki-**

Yumi collapsed in the sandbox, completely worn out. She and her friends had run around like madmen, playing every single game they could think of, no matter how silly or childish, until their parents had come to drag them home.

Ryouta's and Shiori's mother, a tall blonde who worked in the library, had shown up as soon as the sun had set. The kids were able to distract her for one more round of hide-and-seek by pointing Sasuke out to her. Next to come was Moe's father, who let the kids finish their game of tag. Kiku's mother wasn't so nice; she insisted the dark-haired girl come down from the jungle gym without jumping from the top as Suicide, their game, said she had to. Naturally, Kiku jumped anyways, just to spite her mother.

That left Daiki and Yumi alone. For the next two hours, the two ran around the playground, one chasing the other, and then randomly switching. They hid from each other and jumped off Suicide Point in order to escape each other. They even buried each other alive, until finally, someone came for Daiki.

It wasn't either of his parent's, but Daiki's little sister who showed up at the park. "Onii-chama, it's bed-time." The little girl had long blonde hair, and big green eyes, matching her brother. In one arm, she held a stuffed bunny.

Instantly, Daiki rushed over and picked her up. "Okay, let's go home." He turned back to look at Yumi before leaving. "Well, I'm sure we'll see each other around."

Yumi simply nodded, and that's when she collapsed in the sand.

After a few minutes, Sasuke peered down at her. "Are you ready to go home?"

"I think so." There was a brief flash in her eyes as Yumi got an idea, but it instantly vanished. "Otousan, I'm tired. Will you carry me?" She held her arms up.

Sasuke's stoic expression completely came unglued, and a grin was plastered to his face at the word 'otousan.' He bent down and picked her up without question. "Of course."

"Man, we played lots." Yumi said as they started home. "But it was worth it since we're not gonna be able to play anymore."

"Oh, why not?"

Yumi bit her lip; how she approached this conversation would be very important. "Well, school's starting. We're not little kids anymore, and we're all gonna be busy learning how to be ninjas, so we won't have time for silly little kid games."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'we'?"

Yumi put on the cutest face she could muster. "Please, Otousan, I want to go to school with my friends."

"No." He answered simply. "You're too young."

"But, Otousan, I already have way more 'sperieance than the others, and they're only a few years older than me, and if I don't go with them, I'll be all alone."

"You'll make other friends."

"Sasuke-sama." Yumi's voice was filled with so much pleading and suffering that it almost broke Sasuke's heart to hear it. "Please."

**-Uchimaki-**

The next day, Sasuke took Yumi to the Ninja Academy to enroll her in class. The teacher Sasuke was forced to talk to wasn't Iruka, but one of the elder female sensei. Sasuke pushed the idea of Yumi's enrollment off as his own desire, and would never admit, not even under the threat of torture, that the little girl had conned him into accepting her request.

"How the mighty Uchiha has fallen." Sasuke mused quietly to himself.

"What?" Yumi looked up at him as he walked her to her classroom.

Sasuke sighed lightly. "Nothing, it's just something Naruto would say in this situation."

Yumi paused and looked down at her feet. "Otousan, don't worry about Naru-sama." Her voice seemed to be on the edge of tears. "He ran away and left us all alone because he was scared and confused; he was afraid of losing us, and afraid that he would be the one to destroy us." She fell silent for a moment, then turned to look up to Sasuke, her eyes full of determination. "I _**will **_bring him back, even if I have to force him to come back."

Before Sasuke could respond, Yumi opened the door to the classroom and smiled in at her friends, huddled together in the back corner. The little girl could already tell, she was going to enjoy school. Sasuke, on the other hand, was afraid of things to come.

* * *

**Aiko: As always, review and you will be my most favorite people in the whole wide world.**

**Chika: Gaa, I am such a big Yumi fan, so I can't wait to see her in action, but what I can't wait for even more is for Naruto to get his ass in gear and come back to the village. Little blonde idiot.**

**Lala: Awwww…Yumi is so adorable! Glad to have you back Aiko!!!**


End file.
